The transport ministry of Spain said on Tuesday that they are investigating Ryanair, an Irish budget carrier, due to their decision of canceling thousands of reservations that were made on other websites. They said that the investigation is targeted at getting information on the announcement from Ryanair that they will not honor the tickets that passengers have purchased on unlawful websites, like eDreams and Lastminute. The budget airline has said that, starting on August 11th, they will only honor bookings that are made from their website and their telephone reservations line.

eDreams, which is based in Spain, announced that they will take action against the airline for negligence and irresponsibility, as well as the harm they have caused by the cancellation of tickets, numbering in the thousands, of which have been confirmed and paid for as reservations. Facua, a consumer group in Spain, also condemned Ryanair’s decision, which they say failed to fulfill their contract obligations between transporter and passenger.

Ryanair has promised their passengers that they will be refunded if they were affected, however, Facua says that they should also be paid compensation for the inconvenience. The carrier says that they took the action because these unlawful sites are imposing handling fees that are unnecessary, they are not providing up-to-date information for flights, and they are postponing access to Ryanair’s own website. Ryanair has taken legal action already on 2 sites, V-tours and Ireland’s Bravofly, in order to keep them from posting the carrier’s flights.

Visit www.ryanair.com to learn more.